BRM Reviews the 10/3/2018 Lucha Underground

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Big Red Machine
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BRM Reviews the 10/3/2018 Lucha Underground

Post by Big Red Machine » Oct 5th, '18, 13:35

AEROSTAR & MELISSA SANTOS MEET ON TOP OF A ROOF- fine
AeroStar explains that Catrina eating Fenix’s life force permanently infected Fenix with Catrina’s evil. Melissa insists that she can save him but AeroStar says that he is beyond being saved. Melissa asks how he can know this, to which AeroStar replies “because I’ve seen the end.” Well don’t spoil it for the rest of us, okay, buddy?

During Striker’s little recap of Marty The Moth’s title win, he said nothing about the mysterious woman who helped Marty win. In Striker’s defense, I had completely forgotten about her, too, until she appeared in the clips. Then again, I’m not the lead announcer for a storyline-heavy promotion, so I have an excuse. He doesn’t.

X.O. LISHUS, JOEY RYAN, & IVELISSE vs. THE RABBIT TRIBE (the White Rabbit, Paul London, & El Bunny)- 4.5/10
Striker said that the Rabbit Tribe interfered to cost the babyfaces the trios titles last week, but I have no memory of that. The match was short (again), but had a lot of action. The finish saw the White Rabbit choke Joey Ryan out with the Mandible Claw to the point where it drew blood.

Striker announces that Mil Muertes vs. The Mack in a deathmatch at Ultima Lucha IV has been made official. Also newly announced for that show is El Dragon Azteca Jr. vs. Fenix. This match has a 2 out of 3 Falls stipulation because… um…

SON OF HAVOC vs. KILLSHOT- 4/10
So the Rabbit Tribe vs. the randomly-formed dysfunctional family replacement team gets followed up on immediately but we had to wait an entire month for this feud- which has been simmering all season- to get followed up on? Hell… we haven’t even seen either of these men in a month!
So after a month of waiting… we got another short match. Yes, it was followed up by a post-match segment that moved things along nicely, but it’s situations like this that are exactly the reason why doing so many short matches hurts the overall product in more ways than just limiting match quality. If LU didn’t do so many short matches then saving time in a match like this by having it go short and have a roll-up finish wouldn’t be a problem. The fact that they do do so many short matches (and especially in big situations) makes this feel like just another match that got screwed on time rather than well-placed time-saving booking.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- good
Killshot attacks Son of Havoc after the match and steals his mask. Mr. Cueto then comes out and books a mask vs. mask match for Ultima Lucha IV.

OUR NEW LUCHA UNDERGROUND CHAMPION MARTY “THE MOTH” MARTINEZ ADDRESSES THE CROWD-
Marty is dressed like an Aztec warrior now.
Striker referred to whatever little paint-job Marty’s mysterious female friend (it’s Chelsea Green) has by her eyes as a “Sherri Martel homage.” If you are an announcer, please DO NOT DO THIS. It makes the wrestlers look like rip-offs or fakes who are just trying to play a part rather than believable characters. If someone is doing something like this then leave it to the fans at home to understand it or not, especially if it doesn’t actually have any thematic connection to anything. Also, in this particular case, she is pretty clearly a member of the Moth Tribe, so maybe these are small butterfly wings she has painted on each side of her eyes rather than one of Sheri’s random designs.
Upon closer inspection, they are actually spider webs, and Marty reveals that she is the person who had been sending Sexy Star those tarantulas (and on his orders, so that his family could have revenge on Sexy Star for defeating him and his sister). So basically, Matt Striker said something completely unnecessary that could only have a detrimental effect on the wrestler (but is designed to make him look smarter for pointing out a supposed historical connection), and he turned out to be dead wrong. This is not the first time this has happened. And, like in every other instance, no one at LU cared enough to make Striker redo the line in post-production.
The mysterious woman’s name is Reklusa, and she pulled Sexy Star’s mask out from behind Marty’s championship belt (I’ll just hope it wasn’t actually down his pants), so I guess this officially writes Sexy Star out of the story. And just to totally spell it out for us, Marty confirms that Reklusa assaulted Sexy Star at her house and pretty much beat her to death. Nice to finally get that loose end tied up.
Marty explains to us that he has now gotten revenge on Sexy Star, revenge on Pentagon Dark, and that leaves just one more person: Mariposa. And he wants to repay her for forcing him to focus by giving her the first shot at his Lucha Underground Championship… and he wants to do that right now.

For no discernable reason other than some alliteration and that he thought it sounded poetic, Striker referred to Mariposa as “the butterfly of broken dreams.” Hey, Matt? How about you try to keep your descriptions to ones that are actually relevant and make sense? For example, you could say “Matt Striker, announcer of infinite incompetence.”

NO DISQUALIFICATIONS MATCH FOR THE LUCHA UNDERGROUND TITLE: Marty “The Moth” Martinez(c) (w/Reklusa) vs. Mariposa- 7.75/10
Striker says that he has “just been handed a note” that Marty asked for this match to be no DQs and Antonio Cueto agreed. I’m not exactly sure when this happened because Striker himself told us that Mr. Cueto only okayed the match during the commercial break, and the match wasn’t announced as a no DQs match, either, so when did Marty make this request?
For literally no reason other than to say it, Striker compared this match to “making love in a hammock: You’ve got to be slow and smooth in the hips.” Can someone please tell the executives at Lucha Underground that I don’t care what Striker has pictures of them doing; I have already lost more respect for them for keeping him employed than I would for knowing that they do whatever taboo or criminal activity Striker clearly has pictures of them doing.
Later in the match, as the brawl started to get really violent, Vampiro tried to underscore the horror of Marty powerbombing the bleeding Mariposa onto the floor by shouting “THAT’S HIS SISTER!” Striker, on the other hand, thought it was best to wistfully say “we hurt the ones we love most, I suppose.”
They had a very violent brawl that ended in 9:10. It was great for the time it got, but it has now been five weeks since we’ve had a match go more than ten minutes, and an extremely long time since we’ve had one go fifteen. Since Grave Consequences, there have been at most six matches that went longer than ten minutes all season.
Marty won with some help from Reklusa, followed by him doing Pentagon Dark’s “Cero Miedo” taunt and hitting Pentagon Dark’s Package Piledriver. The announcers kept insisting that Marty is “taking things from his opponents,” although their only evidence for this was him using one of Pentagon Dark’s usual moves and one of Mariposa’s usual moves.

POST-MATCH SEGMENT- fine, I guess
Marty taunted Mariposa, then challenged Pentagon Dark to have their match at Ultima Lucha IV be a Cero Miedo Match. If I remember correctly, that’s just a weapons match, which is now the second “hit each other with weapons until someone gets pinned or made to submit” match announced for a show that only has three matches announced so far.
Marty then broke Marisposa’s arm the way Pentagon Dark usually breaks people’s arms. Pentagon Dark then came out and Marty ran away. Pentagon Dark cut a promo accepting the match and… according the subtitles he vowed to break Marty’s bones. I do not speak Spanish so I don’t know the words for “break” or “bones,” but I do know a some Spanish words, and I’m dead sure I heard Pentagon Dark say something about “tu madre,” which does not fit the translation we were provided. It’s possible that I misheard him, of course.


This was a relatively good show in terms of moving things along for Ultima Lucha IV, but it was also yet another show full of short matches, unbuilt and unannounced title matches with no DQs stip tacked on for no reason other than to have one, and no backstage segments. Ultima Lucha IV seems like it must be relatively soon, but it really feels like very little has happened for a season that is now almost over. I don’t know if they’ve been confirmed for a fifth season or not, but I’m at the point where even if there is another season, this one might well be my last.
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

Upcoming Reviews:
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Big Red Machine
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Re: BRM Reviews the 10/3/2018 Lucha Underground

Post by Big Red Machine » Oct 5th, '18, 13:35

Finally all caught up!
Hold #712: ARM BAR!

Upcoming Reviews:
FIP in 2005
ROH Validation
PWG All-Star Weekend V: Night 2
DGUSA Open the Ultimate Gate 2013
ROH/CMLL Global Wars Espectacular: Day 3

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cero2k
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Re: BRM Reviews the 10/3/2018 Lucha Underground

Post by cero2k » Oct 5th, '18, 15:35

i thought Marty was dressed as a Spartan, i guess either or works
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